I have a subscription (I don't know how... Motherhood Maternity must have signed me up) for BabyTalk magazine. I was browsing through it today while eating lunch (March's issue) and on page 50, it says "if he is uncircumcised, it is important to gently tug back his foreskin and cleanse thoroughly."

I'm emailing the magazine's editor, but I cringe to think of how many babies might be retracted between now and when they (or IF they) print a retraction in the next month's issue. This also makes EVERYTHING in the entire magazine completely unreadable to me - this misinformation makes them a completely unreliable source to me now, and I'm requesting that they also take me out of their mailing list.

This is what I sent them:
I am beyond upset with what I just read in Babytalk magazine. In March's issue, on page 50, there is advice to retract an intact boy's foreskin and cleanse it thoroughly. If anyone at your magazine had ANY information at ALL on intact care, you should know that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER retract a foreskin - EVER. It is adhered to the penis, and will retract on its own, in time. It gets cleansed by wiping from base to tip, but NEVER by wiping towards the body. I cannot stress enough that it should NEVER be retracted, gently or otherwise. If you can imagine your fingernail being ripped from your finger and being cleansed beneath, this is exactly what you'd be doing to an intact baby's genitals. I cringe to think of how many babies will suffer injuries because of your lack of information, and I would like to also be removed from the mailing list for this magazine, as I no longer trust any of the parenting information you're offering. PLEASE take the steps to inform your readers of your misinformation.

So I have 2 kids...one boy, one girl. I am rather mainstream...I only learned of AP (and everything that follows) when my daughter was almost 2 and am still a 'mainstream AP parent' if that makes sense

So anyways, my doc told me to pull back the foreskin a little bit during babe's bath...I did and he started to bleed. AHHHH! I felt like the worst mother on earth.....I have since done my research and leave it alone!

you should know that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER retract a foreskin - EVER. It is adhered to the penis, and will retract on its own, in time. It gets cleansed by wiping from base to tip, but NEVER by wiping towards the body. I cannot stress enough that it should NEVER be retracted, gently or otherwise. If you can imagine your fingernail being ripped from your finger and being cleansed beneath, this is exactly what you'd be doing to an intact baby's genitals.

I posted on fb and now there are a swarm of other moms posting about it and asking for others to contact the editors as well. If you could take a moment to inform them of how incredibly wrong their information was, I'm sure there will be lots of grateful little boys out there. If you can't find the link (it's at the bottom under customer service, contact us), you can PM me and I'll send it to you. The more I think about this, the more my blood boils.

Hey girl! Someone on my fan page sent me a pic of the magazine page, woot! Now I've just got to get something written to Baby Talk. I'm so dang tired, lol. Does anyone have a good letter with resources they are willing to share?

Apparently, they are stating the AAP recommend "gentle" retraction of infant's foreskins and are not removing the damaging info. Saw this on Facebook today.

Where does the AAP recommend that?
From their care sheet tittled "Care of the Uncircumcised Penis"

Quote:

"If your son's foreskin is fully retracted before puberty, an occasional retraction with cleansing beneath will do. ** Once your son starts puberty, he should retract the foreskin and clean beneath it on a daily basis. It should become a part of your son's total body hygiene, just like shampooing his hair and brushing his teeth. Teach your son to clean his foreskin by:

* gently pulling it back away from the glans
* rinsing the glans and inside fold of the foreskin with [mild] soap and warm water
* pulling the foreskin back over the head of the penis.

**I would note that the child can do this himself, although that is not mentioned on the AAP sheet.

I wrote and have not received a response.
Jessica

Jessica.. Falling in love all over again..... Dh, Joshua Rebeccaand . for Laura

"Bed-sharing is associated with an increase in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)."

Um, no it's not. There's not a study out there to prove it. Suffocation, maybe, but not SIDS. And the suffocation studies do not control for factors such as substance use or obesity.

The foreskin comment infuriated me, too. We need to demand that they run a correction in a future issue.

“It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines.” - Marcia Angell, M.D., former NEJM Editor To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Private Parts are Private Property!To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"We recognize the confusion lies with the word “tug,” which can be interpreted in different ways. We will make every effort to clarify these statements further in the future. According to the Office of the Executive Director of the AAP, gently pushing back the foreskin to clean is OK."

I commented and sent another email which I hope made some sense as I was multitasking with my dd on my lap:
unnecessary and potentially dangerous

Your information is still confusing and may provoke undue worry in parents who are unfamiliar with this issue. I would be horrified and angry if someone did this to my son while he was in their care, and a caretaker may follow the advise given in your magazine. I hope you will still consider a clarification on the information you presented. A gentle tug on a newborn baby is especially worrisome, a gentle tug on an older child may be inconsequential, but is certainly unnecessary. Please don’t dismiss the concerns of the many parents of intact children who are emailing and contacting you in response to this, it evokes a strong response because it seems so potentially painful and certainly is needless. Jessica

Jessica.. Falling in love all over again..... Dh, Joshua Rebeccaand . for Laura